MOSCOW (REUTERS) – Russian oil producers increased output by almost 1% in the first week of February from January, despite Western embargoes on Russian fuel, Kommersant daily reported on Thursday, citing anonymous data.
The newspaper said producers increased oil and gas condensate output by 0.7% in the first week of February from January’s average to 1.491 million tonnes (10.93 million barrels per day).
The figures align with those quoted by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who said on Wednesday that Russia’s daily crude oil production, excluding gas condensate, so far this month had been comparable with January’s 9.8 million to 9.9 million bpd.
The newspaper said Russian producers have increased oil exports and proposed deeper discounts for domestic oil prices to the international benchmark.
Since the imposition of Western sanctions after Moscow nearly a year ago launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian producers have diverted supplies from Europe to Asia, mainly China and India.
The Rosneft-led Sakhalin-1 project has increased output the most, the newspaper said, without providing data.
Production at Sakhalin-1, previously around 200,000 bpd, collapsed following ExxonMobil’s withdrawal from the project in March.
Rosneft’s head Igor Sechin said earlier this week that the project has resumed oil output.
